Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)

He that ones falleth in to somme euylle faytte or dede / he shalle euer
lyue with dishonur and in suspecion / of the people / And how be it that
by aduenture he purposed to doo somme prouffitable thynge to somme other
/ yet he shold not be trusted ne byleued / wherof Esope reherceth to vs
suche a fable / Of a wulf / whiche maade the foxe to be cyted beofre the
Ape / And the wulf sayd that the foxe was but a theef and a payllart and
a knaue of poure folke / And the foxe sayd that he lyed / and that he
was a good and trewe man / And that he dyde moche good / And thenne the
ape whiche was sette as a Iuge / gaf suche a sentence / And sayd thus
to the wulf / Come hyther / thow hast not loste alle that whiche thow
demaundest / And thow Foxe I byleue wel that thow hast vsurped and robbed
som thynge / how be it / that thow denyest hit in Iustyce / But for as
moche that pees may be bytwixe yow bothe / ye shall parte to gyder your
good / to thende / that none of yow haue no hole parte / For he that is
wonte and acustomed to robbe and gnawe / with grete payne he may absteyne
hym self fro hit / For a begyler wylle euer begyle other / And by cause
that the ape felte them bothe gylty and suspycious made theyr dyfference
to be acorded / and parted half by half / For they that ben customed to doo ony frawde or falshede / shall euer
lyue ryghte heuyly and in suspycion

Caxton
published his edition of Aesop's fables in 1484. There are modern reprints by
Joseph Jacobs (D. Nutt: London, 1889) and more recently by Robert Lenaghan (Harvard
University Press: Cambridge, 1967). Lenaghan's edition is available at amazon.com.